Written By: Dan Geer

Eleven years ago, director Peter Jackson and his highly-skilled team of writers brought to life what many thought for decades to be impossible with the live-action adaptation of author J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. When it concluded in 2003 with The Return of the King, many (including myself) deemed it to be the greatest trilogy of films ever made in the history of cinema. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seemed to agree with that sentiment, with all three films receiving a nomination for Best Picture (something that almost never happens with fantasy films), and The Return of the King landing a clean sweep of eleven Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. It was one of the most historic moments in film history (The Oscars have never again been as interesting), and it was just a great thing to see the creative people behind the making of these films get rewarded for the incredibly hard work and tremendous love they put into the trilogy over the years.

So it goes without saying that Jackson’s return to Middle Earth nearly ten years later with The Hobbit Trilogy has been met with expectations higher than the peak of Mount Doom – expectations that are more than likely impossible to live up to completely. It is thus necessary to inform the reader on just what exactly to expect this time around, as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeyis not quite on the level of genius as 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but is nevertheless a fun adventure and welcome return to Jackson’s incredible vision of Tolkien’s imaginative and captivating fantasy world.

The story begins with old Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit, once again played by Ian Holm, recalling his adventures to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood), just before his 111th birthday celebration we saw in The Fellowship of the Ring. He begins by recounting the tale of Smaug the dragon, and the devastation he brought upon Erebor, a mountain kingdom once ruled by dwarves lead by King Thrór, that contained treasures even Scrooge McDuck would be envious of. Smaug drove the dwarves out of Erebor and claimed the treasure for his own (yes, apparently dragons love treasure in Middle Earth), forcing them to fend for themselves elsewhere.

Flash forward to sixty years before Fellowship, and we once again meet up with Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), who decides to help Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), descendant of Thrór, embark on a quest with twelve other dwarves to reclaim the lost kingdom of Erebor and the treasures held captive within. Gandalf’s key idea for achieving success lies not so much with his abilities as a wizard, but rather by enlisting the help of young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), a Hobbit not at all interested in going on adventures, to act as a sort of burglar to help take back the treasure. Gandalf believes Hobbits to be full of heart, and also stealthy, able to use their short stature to their advantage to move around virtually unseen by larger folk. Although it takes some coaxing, Bilbo eventually agrees in good faith, and out of a sense of empathy toward the dwarves. This being Middle Earth, Bilbo of course gets much more than he bargained for, with his life, and the lives of the group, almost constantly at stake as they seek a way into Erebor.

If the above synopsis seems rather juvenile in comparison to that of The Lord of the Rings, well, that’s because it is. The Hobbit, written before The Lord of the Rings, is a story written with a younger audience in mind. Middle Earth isn’t in as desperate and dark a position as it is in Rings, where the fate of the entire world was entrusted to a lowly Hobbit. Rather, this story is fashioned as more of a light-hearted fairytale adventure. There are elements of foreboding darkness, hinting at the evil things to come in The Lord of the Rings, but generally The Hobbit is full of fun and a contains a delightfully upbeat sense of wonder. It is simply not as grand of a story as The Lord of the Rings, and expecting anything more than that from the films is simply setting up the viewer for disappointment, which may happen to those who have not read The Hobbit and are unfamiliar with its younger narrative.

An Unexpected Journey captures the tone of the book to near perfection by not only realizing the first third of the story beautifully, but also by developing the characters the way Tolkien envisioned. The dwarves in particular, while barbaric and highly-skilled in war, are also simply hilarious in their antics with one another. If one recalls John Rhys-Davies’ brilliant portrayal as Gimli the dwarf from The Lord of the Rings, just imagine a room full of thirteen of his kind! They are “quite a merry gathering,” as Gandalf would say – so merry, in fact, that poor Bilbo is practically put through hell when they disrupt the comfort of his own peaceful home of Bag End in Hobbiton at their first meeting, sloppily eating all of his food, tossing dishes around like they were paper plates, and singing loudly like a bunch of drunken sailors. It’s just hard not to smile and laugh when the dwarves are on screen, and you’ll wish you could hang out with them by the time the film ends (even though it is difficult to keep all of their names straight).

Thorin Oakenshield, however, is one dwarf different from the rest of the company that shines above all the rest. Richard Armitage’s portrayal of the character lets us know of his kingly heritage, whether it’d be through his mighty heroics against orcs or dragons, or through his simple, straightforward leadership of the dwarven company. He is not carefree or merry like his friends, always bringing matters back down to business and pressing on toward the goal of reclaiming Erebor. On paper, his character may seem like sort of a party-pooper, but Armitage really brings the character to life with such a commanding presence, easily reminding us of Viggo Mortenson’s performance as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. Audiences will be rooting for him throughout the entire journey.

But probably the biggest character highlight has to be Martin Freeman’s depiction of young Bilbo Baggins. Freeman was perfectly cast as the Hobbit that, by chance, finds the One Ring forged by the dark lord Sauron we see briefly in the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring. He perfectly balances the comical and typical traits of a Hobbit with earnestness and heart. This is particularly apparent with his encounter with Gollum (Andy Serkis) in the cave, which we briefly saw in Fellowship, but now see in its entirety here. As in The Lord of the Rings, the warm and sincere heart of a Hobbit is on display throughout the entire film. Freeman may have even surpassed Elijah Wood’s performance as Frodo in some ways.

Audiences familiar with Jackson’s previous award-winning trilogy will already be familiar with many events they see in this film, due to their brief mention in The Lord of the Rings, which helps connect the two stories together and makes them feel very much a part of the same world. These films are all about the “incident with the dragon” that Gandalf briefly mentions to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring, and not only do we finally get to see things like Bilbo’s run-in with Gollum in the cave, but also the hungry trolls that old Bilbo tells the Hobbit children about in Fellowship. The film is full of these connections, and it is really a lot of fun to go through the film and feel that sense of familiarity, even though we’ve never seen it before. It’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of the film.

Many of the worries people had over whether or not The Hobbit would feel bloated by being split into a trilogy should be somewhat relieved when they see how the film plays out. Scenes that were covered in just a few sentences or pages in the book are fleshed out much more here, and material from The Appendices of The Return of the King novel are used here as well. The film also ends in a place that, if one has read the story, will help the viewer understand just how exactly it can be split into three films – because there is still a long way to go by the time the movie ends.

For fans of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey represents a very satisfying return to Middle Earth. While it may lack much of the dark and serious subject matter of Rings, it is still a great feeling to return to this world and reunite with old friends (like Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond), and refreshing to see new characters and places we’ve never seen before in a familiar setting we have come to grow very fond of over the years. It still retains the well-written, character-driven narrative that was present in Jackson’s previous trilogy, as well as the epic action-adventure aspect that he brought to life over a decade ago. It may not be as brilliant or meaningful a story as The Lord of the Rings (at least not this particular film), but we cannot, in good sense, fault the film too much for that when it is a story that merely sets us up for the exciting climax we’ve already received. It was never meant to outshine it. Nevertheless, it is still a wonderful story that is sure to delight those who are excited to return to Middle Earth for another outing, and this reviewer cannot wait to see what comes next!

Rating: (out of four)

Update: I have now seen the film in the the 3D high frame rate of 48 FPS (Frames Per Second), and it definitely has its pros and cons. On the positive side, the clarity of picture is unbelievable, and really makes it feel like you are looking through a window into a real world at times, particularly with landscape shots, just as director Peter Jackson has claimed in the past.

The problem, however, lies with sudden movements within frame, or with the camera itself, particularly with action scenes. It really is as bad as people have been saying. Things really do look like they are moving faster than they really are. It is almost as if someone hit the slowest fast-forward speed on one’s Blu-ray/DVD player. Any sort of quick movement a character makes suddenly reminds us of the silent film era where they would intentionally speed things up to make people look like they’re running or moving slightly faster.

To be honest, it was really distracting overall, and I doubt that I will be seeing the film again in 48 FPS. Even though I was impressed by the clarity and the 3D, the new format should never be distracting, and it really is, especially during the film’s most exciting action scenes, which is quite a shame. It sticks out like a sore thumb. The rumors of it looking like a BBC drama or soap opera are true. One can only hope that the problem will be fixed in due time. As of right now, people will have a hard time accepting it, because it doesn’t reflect what people have known cinema to be for 80+ years.

I don’t like it.

Other Reviews:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies